SmashingApps.comhttp://www.smashingapps.com
Free and useful online resources for designer and developersThu, 08 Dec 2016 07:56:14 +0000en-UShourly1Visually Build Native Apps Right In Your Browser With Dropsourcehttp://www.smashingapps.com/2016/12/07/visually-build-native-apps-right-in-your-browser-with-dropsource.html
http://www.smashingapps.com/2016/12/07/visually-build-native-apps-right-in-your-browser-with-dropsource.html#commentsThu, 08 Dec 2016 07:56:14 +0000http://www.smashingapps.com/?p=54194Dropsource is a brand new mobile application development platform that was built with the developer’s needs in mind. What does this mean exactly? It means that its sole purpose is to make a developer’s job easier and to make building a data-driven native mobile app as simple as drag and drop. Dropsource comes equipped with great technology that will help web developers focus on creating an excellent user experience, since they won’t have to focus on the hassle of endless and tedious tasks associated with writing and testing every line of code. While not yet simple enough for the total non-technical user, any savvy developer that uses this platform should be able to create native mobile apps much easier than coding manually.

We all know building apps from scratch is a difficult job, since it implies having a vast knowledge of coding and spending a lot of time to undertake repetitive processes. As a result, most people either a) hire a professional mobile developer to do the job (which costs lots of money), b) turn to hybrid or web app tools (which are not always the best in terms of UX & performance), or c) get discouraged and abandon their ideas. However, by using Dropsource, developers can avoid these issues and visually build native iOS and Android apps themselves in their web browser.

Dropsource says that it is providing automated programming. This means that while the user takes advantage of the drag and drop editor, Dropsource’s internal code-writing engine writes all the source code in Swift (for iOS apps) and Java (for Android apps). When you’re ready, you can download your compiled and complete app to launch in the App Store. Making changes to the app, such as adding new stuff to the app or improving the existing features is as easy as pie. You can just login to Dropsource, make your updates, hit build and voila, Dropsource will update the code for you. But if you insist on having the personal touch on a code level, that’s not an issue either. Since the code is written in Swift and Javaand is fully exposed to users, you can download and extend the code as you see fit.

But there’s more! One very cool feature of this platform is that it will allow app creators to connect their apps with any REST API. Google Places, GitHub. YouTube, Slack, Facebook; you name it. You can link all these services into your app through their APIs, plus you can connect your custom API right into your app.

Also, for people who are interested in creating fast app prototypes, Dropsource will allow them to get immediate feedback and share their work with colleagues and friends. Not to mention that it will not harm your creational work. You’ll be able to add a personal touch through styling, take advantage of plugins, or edit the source code directly. So, you’re in control of the design, user experience and the code.

To sum up, this is why I think you should check out Dropsource:

You can visually build native mobile apps without having to code it manually.

You own the source code, you can download it anytime, and can extend it as you see fit in Swift or Java.

It’s perfect to quickly build your MVP to test out an idea or to build your production quality app…Dropsource can really do both.

Finally, perhaps the greatest thing I found about Dropsource right now is that you can build your app for free during their private beta. I already joined and started our app, so if you need to build an app, go sign up at Dropsource. Whether you are a developer at a startup, or at a small business interested in getting exposure through a mobile app or you work in IT at a well-established enterprise looking to build internal use apps, this development platform will help you reach your goals and make building native mobile apps faster.

]]>http://www.smashingapps.com/2016/12/07/visually-build-native-apps-right-in-your-browser-with-dropsource.html/feed58 WordPress Plugins To Boost Speed And SEOhttp://www.smashingapps.com/2016/11/23/8-wordpress-plugins-to-boost-speed-and-seo.html
http://www.smashingapps.com/2016/11/23/8-wordpress-plugins-to-boost-speed-and-seo.html#commentsThu, 24 Nov 2016 05:49:14 +0000http://www.smashingapps.com/?p=54183The beauty of having a WordPress website is that many issues or problems can be addressed with a simple plugin. You don’t need to know a line of code to add this piece of software to your site, and your site will quickly and easily get the improved functionality of the plugin. As anyone in the WordPress community knows: There’s likely a plugin for that!

Today, we’re looking at the best plugins to drastically improve your site’s speed and SEO. Speed is necessary for a great user experience, and you always need to be on top of your SEO to ensure that people can find your site.

Here are the 8 best WordPress plugins to boost speed and SEO of your blog.

This comprehensive WP cleanup plugin will help you optimize your site’s speed in short order. It cleans up your database by taking away spam comments, old post revisions, and trashed items. Since an excess of clutter like that is what substantially contributes to a slow site, removing them regularly will boost site speed.

Each time a site visitor arrives, his or her browser’s required to load a slew of items like logos, CSS files, and additional resources. Depending on how much of this is on a site, the slower the site will be. WP Super Cache essentially keeps track of items already loaded the first time a page was accessed—so it doesn’t waste resources by loading them again.

This plugin will run automatically after it’s been uploaded and enabled. It’s also free of charge.

Look at any WordPress site today, and you’ll notice how replete they are with images because images hook readers and visitors. Unfortunately, vivid images come in big file sizes, which has a tendency to really slow down a site. That’s where this plugin comes into the picture: It compresses images as they’re scaled down, so site speed won’t suffer. As a result, unnecessary data is stripped, helping to optimize your site’s performance.

Usually, Instagram plugins serve images directly from Instagram’s servers, hampering your ability to control image size and other factors necessary to maintain good site speed. As an Austin-based SEO, I run into this issue regularly when tuning sites, particularly tech startups. This lightweight and developer-friendly plugin instead pulls Instagram images and creates and optimizes precision-sized thumbnails. It then serves the images locally, helping to increase site speed.

Formerly WordPress SEO by Yoast, Yoast SEO is the go-to plugin for many marketers who want better search rankings. That’s because this plugin assists you in writing better content, offers you a page analysis, provides a search-engine view so you know if your meta description is excellent or not, and even creates an XML sitemap to help your rankings.

Yoast’s popularity is based on it being free, but there’s also a premium version for additional support that starts at $69 for a single site.

Knowing how your site performs is vital to SEO efforts because you need to know where visitors are coming from, how much time they’re spending on each page, and what they’re doing on each page. When you’re armed with this info, you’re better able to optimize pages so that they appear higher in search results.

It’s available for free, but you need a Google Analytics account first.

Think of rich snippets as additional tidbits of information that show up underneath Google’s search results. Sometimes also called Schema markups, these snippets make it easier for your WordPress webpages to successfully stand out in search results, thus helping with SEO. In a practical sense, when people understand what your site is about more clearly, that can translate to higher click-through rates.

Pricing starts at $69 for a full year, with other, more expensive tiers beyond that.

Since outbound links can damage your site’s SEO rankings, it’s beneficial to take an inventory of them and get rid of the inferior ones. LinkPatrol improves your outgoing link profile by removing spammy links immediately, finding and removing problem anchor texts, and keeps track of newly added links and keywords.

You can start cleaning up your links for $50 for the basic plan.

These 8 stellar WordPress plugins will boost your site speed and SEO, guaranteed. Use them today to begin enjoying faster load times, greater site performance, and higher search results.

This is an editorial contribution from Kyle Sanders, Head of Search at Complete Web Resources.

]]>http://www.smashingapps.com/2016/11/23/8-wordpress-plugins-to-boost-speed-and-seo.html/feed56 Worth Trying Apps, If You Never Didhttp://www.smashingapps.com/2016/11/22/6-worth-trying-apps-if-you-never-did.html
http://www.smashingapps.com/2016/11/22/6-worth-trying-apps-if-you-never-did.html#commentsWed, 23 Nov 2016 06:27:11 +0000http://www.smashingapps.com/?p=54173There are many apps out there, but getting by free and good ones is not that easy. That is why we are sharing 6 Worth Trying Apps, If You Never Did.

So, without any further ado let’s take a look at these and feel free to share this post with others. Read each entry in the list and see which one suits your needs best. Do let us know what you think about this post via comment section below. Enjoy!

InVision gives teams the freedom to design, review, and user test products—all without a single line of code. With intuitive tools for prototyping, task management, and version control, it’s your entire design process, all in one place.

Vectr is a free graphics editor used to create vector graphics easily and intuitively. It’s a simple yet powerful web and desktop cross-platform tool to bring your designs into reality.

Airtable

Airtable makes it easy to organize stuff, people, ideas and anything else you can imagine with your team.

Opentest

Communicating on the web just became way more efficient and personable with Opentest. You can do unlimited HD quality recording and storage and it is instantly ready to share. This service is 100% free, You’ll wonder how you survived without this till now.

You can seamlessly manage your website’s images in the cloud with Cloudinary. This will help you to image upload, cloud storage, image manipulation, image API and fast CDN for your website.

]]>http://www.smashingapps.com/2016/11/22/6-worth-trying-apps-if-you-never-did.html/feed54 Online Apps You May Need To Knowhttp://www.smashingapps.com/2016/09/01/4-online-apps-you-may-need-to-know.html
http://www.smashingapps.com/2016/09/01/4-online-apps-you-may-need-to-know.html#commentsThu, 01 Sep 2016 18:29:18 +0000http://www.smashingapps.com/?p=54144There are many tools out there, but getting by free and good ones is not that easy. That is why are sharing 4 Online Apps You May Need To Know.

So, without any further ado let’s take a look at these and feel free to share this post with others. Read each entry in the list and see which one suits your needs best. Do let us know what you think about this post via comment section below. Enjoy!

Bounce is a script that allows you to publish beautiful banner bars on your site with no coding required. Target bars to users based on where they came from, what page they’re on and whether they’re blocking your ads.

typWrittr is distraction-free, minimal and yet highly configurable online text editor. It features unique concept of inspirational presets that increases the flow of inspiration using various UI elements and sounds.

NetSpot is the only professional app for wireless site surveys, Wi-Fi analysis, and troubleshooting on Mac OS X. It’s a FREE Wi-Fi analyzer. No need to be a network expert to improve your home or office Wi-Fi today! All you need is your MacBook running Mac OS X 10.6+ and NetSpot which works over any 802.11 network. It is available for Windows as well.

]]>http://www.smashingapps.com/2016/09/01/4-online-apps-you-may-need-to-know.html/feed68 Free CSS-SVG Loaders and Spinnershttp://www.smashingapps.com/2016/08/15/8-free-css-svg-loaders-and-spinners.html
http://www.smashingapps.com/2016/08/15/8-free-css-svg-loaders-and-spinners.html#commentsMon, 15 Aug 2016 18:08:42 +0000http://www.smashingapps.com/?p=53923In this round-up we are showcasing some best and very useful CSS-SVG loaders and spinners. Loaders and spinners are very important when you are working on Ajaxed interfaces. All these CSS-SVG loaders and spinners are free so you can easily download without any tension. You can also use these loaders in your content as AJAX loader, image/content lazy loading indicator, image preloader, and many more. I am sure this collection will help you in your future projects.

Scroll through our wonderful collection. I hope you will like this collection. Do let us know what you think about this compilation. Feel free to share your opinions and comments with us via comment section below. Have fun!!

]]>http://www.smashingapps.com/2016/08/15/8-free-css-svg-loaders-and-spinners.html/feed114 Free Business Cards & Corporate Identity Packageshttp://www.smashingapps.com/2016/08/04/14-free-business-cards-corporate-identity-packages.html
http://www.smashingapps.com/2016/08/04/14-free-business-cards-corporate-identity-packages.html#commentsThu, 04 Aug 2016 17:55:09 +0000http://www.smashingapps.com/?p=54092In this post, we are presenting 14 free business cards, resumes, corporate identity packages that are best in 2016. With the help of this collection, you can easily make your brands or products identity wonderful, eye-catching and stylish from the other products or brands.

You can find in this collection superb business cards, impressive resumes templates, interesting envelopes, attractive cover letters, stylish brochures, useful folders not only this you can also see superb and awesome coffee mugs, pencils and CD covers. So browse through and splash. Feel free to share your comments. Your comments are always welcome. Hope you will like this collection.

]]>http://www.smashingapps.com/2016/08/04/14-free-business-cards-corporate-identity-packages.html/feed212 Easy To Use Logo Creator Tools For Freelancers & Non-Designershttp://www.smashingapps.com/2016/07/22/12-easy-to-use-logo-creator-tools-for-freelancers-non-designers.html
http://www.smashingapps.com/2016/07/22/12-easy-to-use-logo-creator-tools-for-freelancers-non-designers.html#commentsFri, 22 Jul 2016 11:46:12 +0000http://www.smashingapps.com/?p=53778Logo is very essential part for any company, organization, brand, freelancer worker and corporation. But if you are a non-designer and want to create an extra ordinary and amazing logo then you should see this collection. In this post you will find 12 superb, outstanding and easy to use logo creator tools which help you to create your masterpiece. Now you do not have to worry any more just simply use this collection and make your own creative and professional logo.

So, without any further ado here we are presenting the complete list of 12 logo creator tools. Feel free to share this post with others. Do also let us know what you think about this post via comment section below. Enjoy!

]]>http://www.smashingapps.com/2016/07/22/12-easy-to-use-logo-creator-tools-for-freelancers-non-designers.html/feed410 New Yet Free WordPress Pluginshttp://www.smashingapps.com/2016/07/14/10-new-yet-free-wordpress-plugins.html
http://www.smashingapps.com/2016/07/14/10-new-yet-free-wordpress-plugins.html#commentsThu, 14 Jul 2016 19:44:42 +0000http://www.smashingapps.com/?p=54054WordPress plugins are quite a useful commodity as they allow designers and developers to bring in some additional functionality into their website or blog. WordPress plugins are specially popular in designing community because of their widespread variety and easy availability. In this post, we are also presenting a fresh collection of 10 new and free to use WordPress plugins for you. With these free plugins, you can easily extend your website functionality by adding some useful features.

With this collection, we are showcasing a fresh assortment of some free and fresh WordPress plugins for you so that you can download them and simplify your work process. Resources such as WordPress plugins are meant to expedite your work flow by allowing you carry out certain actions quickly thus helping you to improve your productivity as well.

The icons will show in the front end when you add your link in the widget, other wise the incon will not show in your website front end. This is an amazing option for a website That unused social icons will not show in the front end. Only the linked icons will show in the front end.

Reclaim lost ad revenue by forcing users to pay 1 cent per page view to keep their adblocker or remove their adblocker.

]]>http://www.smashingapps.com/2016/07/14/10-new-yet-free-wordpress-plugins.html/feed711 Fresh & Free Vector (AI, EPS Files) Backgroundhttp://www.smashingapps.com/2016/07/12/11-fresh-free-vector-ai-eps-files-background.html
http://www.smashingapps.com/2016/07/12/11-fresh-free-vector-ai-eps-files-background.html#commentsTue, 12 Jul 2016 16:33:36 +0000http://www.smashingapps.com/?p=54008Are you looking for some fresh and free vector backgrounds for your website? If your answer is yes then you have come to the right page. In this post, we are showcasing 11 fresh and free to use vector backgrounds in ai and eps file format. These vector backgrounds can be used in website designing, print designs as well as for wallpapers. Moreover, all the vector backgrounds are fully editable to meet your requirements. You can easily edit them.

Without any further delay, here we are presenting the complete collection of 11 fresh and free vector background to spice up your designs a little bit more. Enjoy looking into this collection and have more fun using them in your work. Do have a say about this compilation. Enjoy!

]]>http://www.smashingapps.com/2016/07/12/11-fresh-free-vector-ai-eps-files-background.html/feed413 Fresh Icon Designs For Inspirationhttp://www.smashingapps.com/2016/06/30/13-fresh-icon-designs-for-inspiration.html
http://www.smashingapps.com/2016/06/30/13-fresh-icon-designs-for-inspiration.html#commentsThu, 30 Jun 2016 21:18:54 +0000http://www.smashingapps.com/?p=54051Another amazing and creative collection of 13 latest, trendy and stylish icon designs are presented here only for your inspiration or motivation. All these wonderful and superb icon designs are presented in high quality and are free so you can easily download your favorite icon design without paying any cost.

Now the web designer does not need to spend his time in searching high quality icon design. They need to do only one thing; simply use this collection in their future designs or projects and make their work more appealing and attractive. Do let us know what you think about this compilation. Feel free to share your opinions and comments with us via comment section below.